This Is How The Sinaloa Cartel Uses Native American Reservations In The US To Traffic Fentanyl

Mica for cartelinsider.com

In an attempt to expand their criminal operations based on fentanyl trafficking, the Sinaloa Cartel found a great opportunity in the Native American reservations in northern United States.

A recent investigation by NBC News, based on court documents, reveals that the state of Montana has become a base of operations for this criminal group due to the limited surveillance in these areas and the difficulties that law enforcement faces in taking action within tribal lands.

The discovery of this drug trafficking ring dates back to March 2020, when security forces detained Ricardo Ramos Medina, a former Mexican police officer who was carrying half a kilogram of methamphetamine in his truck. He had picked it up from a location near the San Diego International Airport, and his mission was to transport it by land to Montana.

Ramos Medina was part of a cell of the Sinaloa Cartel that, according to estimates from multiple prosecutors cited by NBC News, smuggled at least one ton of methamphetamine and 700,000 fentanyl pills into Montana for three years.

Although, at first, the case bewildered the authorities, they soon realized the reason why this state, bordering Canada, was so attractive to the cartel.

Stacy Zinn, former agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), revealed to the media that in Montana, fentanyl can be sold up to 20 times more expensive than in other regions of the country.

With a production cost of less than a dollar, a pill of this opioid usually sells for between three and five dollars in Seattle and Denver. However, in some parts of Montana, a fentanyl pill can cost up to 100 dollars.

To infiltrate certain reservations, cartel members began to establish relationships with women from the tribes to sell drugs. Additionally, they often lure Native Americans by giving them an initial supply of drugs and “turning them into indebted addicts,” the investigation explains.

Before, methamphetamine production centers were common in Montana, but they were hindered by restrictions on the chemical precursors necessary to produce it.

As a result, the Sinaloa Cartel began to send informants to the reserves to find out who was distributing drugs in small quantities and select their targets. In most cases, they targeted single women in the tribes and used their homes as operational bases.

In addition to the high rates of drug addiction mentioned in the report, the scarce presence of authorities makes these communities an ideal option for the cartel.

For example, the Northern Cheyenne tribe has two Tribal Police officers on duty to protect six thousand inhabitants, while the Crow reservation has between four and six officers per shift. In addition, these security forces are generally prohibited from detaining non-residents, and an agreement with the tribes must be in place for state authorities to intervene.

Although the capture of Ramos Medina led to the arrest of 21 additional members of the Sinaloa Cartel who were part of this cell, Indian reservations still face difficulties regarding their security personnel and the needs of their hospitals to treat cases of addiction to various substances.

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Mica

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